Covering Covers: The Straits of Galahesh - Bradley P. Beaulieu

If I saw both books on the shelf I would be drawn to Winds 10 times out of 10. It's unique, atmospheric, and clean. And the airship is awesome. The sequel is text heavy, blocky, and depicts a man about to lose his ability to have children after he slams his Galahesh into the title text box. Seriously though, he's both in front of and behind that thing. It's going to hurt.

But then again I'm not a marketing expert. If the new cover gets more people to buy into Brad Beaulieu's Cyrillic flavored fantasy series, great. A bad cover isn't going to stop me from reading it.

Here's the full layout.

Here's the back cover text blown up:

West of the Grand Duchy of Anuskaya lies the Empire of Yrstanla, the Motherland. The Empire has lived at peace with Anuskaya for generations, but with political turmoil brewing and the wasting disease still rampant, opportunists from the mainland have begun to set their sights on the Grand Duchy, seeking to expand their empire.

Five years have passed since Prince Nikandr, heir to the scepter of Khalakovo, was tasked with finding Nasim, the child prodigy behind a deadly summoning that led to a grand clash between the armies of man and elder elemental spirits. Today, that boy has grown into a young man driven to understand his past - and the darkness from which Nikandr awakened him. Nikandr's lover, Atiana, has become a Matra, casting her spirit forth to explore, influence, and protect the Grand Duchy. But when the Al-Aqim, long thought lost to the past, return to the islands and threaten to bring about indaraqiram - a change that means certain destruction for both the Landed and the Landless - bitter enemies must become allies and stand against their horrific plans.